How do I change the basemap opacity?

Question

I need to change the transparency of the basemap, but there's no option in the UI and neither appending a parameter to the URL nor trying to edit the MapComponent in C++ got me anywhere. How do I do this?

(mind that I just started using Unreal, so you can't be too detailed 😏)

piercze · Answer

A problem with my current configuration is that I am actually creating a whole set of new map layers every time I want to reveal or hide a specific layer with a key press input. Does anyone know a way to work around this, to be able to adjust the opacity like a normal material, without having to reload the map?

piercze · Answer

Also, the basemaps don't seem to be configurable w opacity properties. But I made a workaround. When you build with blueprints by following the tutorial above, you can actually skip the generation of the 'basemap' and just use that same ESRI rest server source link as a normal GIS Image Layer later 'with properties' alongside the new york layers. It will allow you to have an opacity parameter exposable to an input mapping context. However, there are some aesthetic/color issues that you'll have to explore using this method.

piercze · Answer

I figured this out.

You'll need to learn how to spin up scenes using Blueprints. You'll use nodes to pull the maps from the esri server instead of the default Unreal/ArcGIS UI. See here:
https://developers.arcgis.com/unreal-engine/maps/tutorials/display-a-map-bp/

Then you will use nodes like 'Create ArcGIS Image Layer With Properties'. The 'with properties' part is key, because it will give you the ability to convert the opacity of a map into a parameter. I think this should also apply to the basemaps, but I'm not actually sure. If the basemap nodes don't have exposed property functions this should be low-hanging fruit for next update.